Kanpur, Sep 1 (IANS): Four persons have been arrested in Kanpur for kidnapping and sodomising a 10-year-old boy before throwing him alive in the Ganga river.

The boy is yet to be found.

According to police reports, the minor was kidnapped two days ago when he had gone out of his house in the Cantonment area to play.

The kidnappers called his father for a ransom of Rs 6 lakhs but when he said that he was unable to pay, they sodomised the boy and threw him in the Ganga alive.

The accused persons have confessed to the crime.

Joint Commissioner of Police, Anand Prakash Tiwari said: "There is a possibility that the boy was sexually assaulted before he was thrown in the river. Police are investigating and have arrested four people living in the same locality as the boy."

The father of the boy, who works as a driver, said the kidnappers told him to pay Rs 6 lakh. "I told them I was unable to pay or arrange such a big sum," he said.

He immediately informed the police that tracked four people --Ballu, Amit, Saghir and Ameen -- through the number the kidnappers had used and obtained CCTV footage, showing them picking up the boy.

During interrogation, the accused admitted that they had sodomised the boy after his father said that he would not be able to pay the ransom amount.